Canadian Watchdog Claims Christmas, Easter Are Evidence Of ‘Religious Intolerance’
Canada’s so-called “Human Rights Commission” (CHRC) is now claiming that Christian holidays, especially Christmas and Easter, are evidence of “religious intolerance.”
In a recently published paper, the federally-funded “human rights watchdog” group essentially argued that Canada must work toward the “eradication” of supposed religious intolerance — right after asserting that Christian holidays in the 63.2% Christian country amount to “systemic religious discrimination.”
The CHRC, which was established in 1977 to administer Canada’s Human Rights Act, supposedly works “to help ensure that everyone in Canada is treated fairly.” However, the watchdog actually prioritizes helping certain identity groups at the expense of others. The CHRC receives roughly $32 million in Canadian taxpayer funds annually, and has been given considerable judicial powers recently.
Now, they are trying to battle another made-up problem, something they have called “systemic faithism.”
The new paper attacking Christianity, which was published on October 23, is ironically titled “Discussion Paper on Religion Intolerance.”
“Religious intolerance impedes the ability of Canadian society to be democratic, welcoming, open-minded, and accepting. Only through understanding and acknowledging the existence of religious intolerance in Canada can we begin to address it and work towards its eradication,” the paper stated.
“Religious intolerance can materialize in many ways, from microaggressions, to lack of accommodation and acceptance of religious practices,” the paper continued.
The CHRC went on to claim that religious intolerance is “deeply rooted” in Canada’s “identity as a settler colonial state” and “manifests itself in present-day systemic religious discrimination.”
Despite their claims, free exercise of religion has been law in Canada since before the nation’s confederation in 1867, as the National Post noted in an op-ed about the CHRC’s paper. In 1851, the colonial Province of Canada enacted the Freedom of Worship Act, which protected “free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference.”
Nonetheless, the CHRC claims that “Discrimination against religious minorities in Canada is grounded in Canada’s history of colonialism.”
“This history manifests itself in present-day systemic religious discrimination,” the paper continued. “An obvious example is statutory holidays in Canada. Statutory holidays related to Christianity, including Christmas and Easter, are the only Canadian statutory holidays linked to religious holy days.”
“As a result, non-Christians may need to request special accommodations to observe their holy days and other times of the year where their religion requires them to abstain from work,” the paper noted.
However, the paper was forced to acknowledge that Canadian employers are legally required to accommodate the religious requirements of clients and employees — which directly the CHRC’s claims that the existence of Christian statutory holidays comes at the expense of non-Christians.
Conservatives have slammed the CHRC for their paper, including Member of Parliament (MP) Jeremy Patzer.
“This is ridiculous. Christmas is celebrated all around the world by people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. This is another example of woke ideology fomenting within the federal government. I for one will be celebrating Christmas whole heartedly. Merry Christmas!” Patzer wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“The Trudeau Liberals have lost their minds to woke culture. There is nothing discriminatory about Christmas,” wrote John Rustad, leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia.
